Captain Marvel Review

Brie Larson as Captain Marvel

This month brought the release of the much anticipated Captain Marvel, Marvel Studios first female lead film and the final film released by the studio before Avengers: Endgame.

SPOLIERS AHEAD!

Captain Marvel begins on the planet of Hala, an entirely alien planet, never seen or heard of in the MCU before. Known as Vers, Captain Marvel begins her journey confident but in turmoil and confusion about her past. The Kree the alien race Vers is part of is shown as an advanced civilization, with a mysterious AI leader.

The beginning of the film can be confusing, especially the first time around, but as the movie progresses it becomes apparent it was setting up for the end and bigger parts of the storyline and Captain Marvels character development.

Captain Marvel with Kree leader, Yon - Rogg played by Jude Law.

In an altercation that involved Vers being captured by the films villans, Skrulls, we see glimpses into Vers in another life, as Carol Danvers. As Vers escapes she finds her self on planet C-53 or better known as Earth. After seeing glimpses of another life, she takes it upon herself to find out who the unknown woman in her dreams is and to save her from the grasp of the Skrulls.

Here is where the narrative begins to streamline , after meeting Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the film embarks on a buddy cop style narrative. Vers and Fury go in hunt for the woman she is seeing in her dreams, whilst fighting against the Skrulls trying to get to her first. The film is full of witty humor and light hearted moments between Fury and Vers, and the charming cat (or maybe not) Goose.

The Skrulls experimenting on Captain Marvel in an attempt to extract her memories.

Throughout the rest of the film Vers is lead to her former friend Maria (Lashana Lynch), she then finally finds out about her past and who she really is, Carol Danvers. This also leads to the discovery that the Skrulls are not as bad as they have been depicted and that the people that Carol has trusted in her life that she remembers are the reason for all her turmoil and many others.

Instead of being crushed down by this new knowledge Carol rises and becomes Captain Marvel, she then almost single handedly destroys her enemies and shows her true limitless powers. The film ends with Carol heading back to her former home of Hala to destroy the powers that be.

One major part of the film that is linked to Infinity War is Carol giving Fury a new and improved pager to contact her on, the same pager he used in the end credit scene of Infinty War to call her just before he turns to dust. Even more major of a scene is the first end credit scene, in which the surviving Avengers are trying to solve what the pager that Fury left behind is for and who it is calling, as it has stopped working. Black Widow turns around for who but Captain Marvel to be behind her. This is clearly major scene from Endgame, introducing Captain Marvel to the other Avengers in a post credit scene is a bold move for Marvel and adds even more hype to the upcoming Endgame.

Captain Marvel received a lot of comparison to Wonder Woman before it had even been released, being the next in line as a rare female lead superhero movie. What Captain Marvel does is not push a feminist message in the same way Wonder Woman did. The film was just a normal superhero movie (other than all the hype surrounding it) and that in itself is a massive step forward in female representation on screen. There was nothing in the film that said look a female superhero, it just treated the story the same as any other superhero film.

The film also carried two other strong messages, one being the lack of a love interest for the character, instead giving her a loving platonic relationship with her best friend Maria. This showed there is no need for a love interest for female lead films to make the film strong and valid. The films main message that it carried was the message that its ok to be a human being and to make mistakes or fail and get back up again, it was an unexpected message for the film to have, but makes total sense and feeds a strong message to young women all over the world.

Overall, Captain Marvel was an extremly well made film, from the message, to the visuals and effects. This film felt different to any Marvel film that has come before. The film is also the perfect lead up to the upcoming Avengers: Endgame released at the end of April. The film has so far made over $900, 000, 000 at the worldwide box office and it is surely heading towards smashing the $1 Billion mark, I expect after the release of Endgame, Captain Marvels popularity at the box office will spike once more. If Captain Marvel has anything to say then it is shaping up that Endgame is going to be a film of epic proportions.